Following the announcement by Georgia of the hiring of Jahmile Addae, UGASports spoke with long-time coach Rich Rodriguez about the Bulldogs’ new defensive backs coach.
Addae, a defensive back at West Virginia under Rodriguez from 2001-2005, totaled 248 tackles, eight interceptions, and two forced fumbles for his Mountaineer career. Also, he was an assistant under Rodriguez at West Virginia, Michigan, and Arizona for eight years, including as recently as 2017, when he served as the Wildcats’ defensive backs coach.
What do you remember about Coach Addae from when he played at West Virginia while you were head coach?
Rodriguez: I recruited him out of just outside of Tampa, Florida, and he played for me as a 17-year-old true freshman—which is very rare. He was a great player and a great role model for our program. On the field, he was very physical. In fact, I still say Jahmile is definitely one of the most physical defensive backs I've ever coached. And, you didn’t need to tell him to be physical; it was just in his nature to be so. Yet, Jahmile was kind of a quiet guy, not one of these talking-all-the-time-type players.
Do you recall any interesting stories from when he played for the Mountaineers?
Rodriguez: Jahmile’s first start for me was as a 17-year-old true freshman [in 2001] on national TV at Miami, when the Hurricanes were No. 1 in the country. Here he was, going down to No. 1-ranked Miami, on TV on a Thursday night, making his first start as a 17-year-old in his home state. I always tease Jahmile, saying for Miami’s first two snaps of the game, he lined up about 20 yards deep (laughing). But he settled down a little bit after that and played well, especially considering the circumstances.
(Because of injuries to West Virginia’s secondary, Addae, who had just been moved up from the scout team, played and started in his initial game at Miami. In a 45-3 loss to the Hurricanes, while not recording any tackles, the 17-year-old safety reportedly “didn’t get beaten deep.”)
What do you remember about Coach Addae from when he coached under you?
Rodriguez: Well, he first was an analyst for me—and, I knew, once he got into coaching, he’d be great at it. He’s a smart guy, an extremely hard worker, and very driven. When I hired him to be a full-time, on-the-field coach at Arizona, he immediately became one of our best recruiters. You know, a head coach can send his best recruiters anywhere. So I sent Jahmile just about anywhere. He got some players for us from Las Vegas, some players from Florida, and from other places.
What makes Coach Addae a good recruiter?
Rodriguez: He works at it—from making phone calls to text messages. And from there, he really gets to know the kid, and who the “decision-makers” are in the family. It’s all about building relationships, right? In recruiting, Coach Addae is able to build relationships maybe better than anyone I had on my staff.
Finally, what is Georgia getting in Coach Addae?
Rodriguez: He’ll be a great addition. First off, Jahmile already knows he’s going to a great staff with Kirby [Smart] and my buddy, Matt Luke (Rodriguez served as Luke’s offensive coordinator at Ole Miss in 2019)—and that has to be a great feeling. I’m excited for him. With players, Jahmile has a way about him where he can demand a lot, and coach the guys hard—yet they’ll still love his discipline. Jahmile gets very close with his players, but he’s going to coach them, demand a lot from them, and have high expectations.
